Chapter 71

  The roads in Feihu Village are about to be opened up, but Xiao Ming ordered them to stop, the New Year is approaching, let's first have a peaceful and stable Chinese New Year before doing anything else.

  Behind the mountain, a huge stone monument was erected, with the names of more than 300 soldiers who sacrificed their lives in this battle. The soldiers found the bodies of Guihua and her children amidst the ruins, Ma Liu brought over the seat from Sun Er Gou's horse-drawn carriage, and buried them in that big pit, setting up a separate monument, inscribing the names of the three family members.

  Xiao Ming felt that it was meaningless for the imperial army to stay here, so he discussed with Wang Jinlong and others, and sent Shan Wazi to find Niu San.

  Niu San heard that the commander was looking for him, and his heart was like carrying twenty-five little rabbits, feeling uneasy. He came to Xiao Ming's tent, saw Wang Jinlong and others were there, and hastily greeted: "Good gentlemen, I don't know what orders you have for me?"

  "Niu Lianchang has arrived, sit down!" Xiao Ming pointed to a stool beside him.

  "No, no, no, Commander Xiao. I'm fine standing. If there's something to be done, just give the order and I'll take care of it right away!" Niu San's legs were trembling with fear, but he really did want to find a place to sit down.

  "Brother Niu, you've been working hard lately! With the New Year approaching, I called you over to discuss the issue of your stay or leave." Xiao Ming stood up and pressed Niu San's shoulders down onto the stool.

  "Ah!" Niu San's mouth was wide open, and it took him half a day to close it. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he didn't speak until after a while. "Xiao Ye, all the brothers are willing to stay! We used to help the little devils do bad things, and now we're willing to stay and work to atone for our sins, atone!"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Niu Lianchang, don't be nervous! What I have said, I will definitely keep my word. You can leave now if you want to, or stay if you want to!"

  Niu Sanyi wiped the sweat from his sleeve and thought to himself, "How can I not be nervous? You're a man who has taken over 100 lives with just a few words!" He hastily nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, yes, Mr. Xiao is right, we'll all listen to Mr. Xiao!"

  Xiao Ming patted Niu San's shoulder and said with a smile: "This way, you go back and tell your brothers that those who want to leave will get 10 big silver coins each. After leaving, they cannot work for the Japanese again; Those who are willing to stay are the sworn brothers of Fei Hu Zhai! However, our mountain stronghold has many rules, if you can't do it confidently, take the money and leave early! The specific matters will be explained clearly by Lin Shouzhang and you together!"

  "Yes, yes, thank you, Master Xiao, thank you, gentlemen! I'll go take care of it right away!" Niu Sanru rushed out of the tent in a daze and sprinted towards his own camp.

  Niu San went away for a long time and then came back, accompanying his smile to say: "Everyone, officers, brothers want to ask, what are the rules of your village?"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Old Lin, trouble you to go once, tell them about the rules of the mountain stronghold, let them make a decision early!"

  The next morning, the imperial army gathered on the drill ground, each with a gloomy and uncertain expression, thinking about their own thoughts. Before long, someone brought out tables, chairs, and benches, and several soldiers carried two boxes over, placing them on the table, inside were stacks of silver dollars, causing a burst of exclamations on the drill ground.

  Xiao Ming and others slowly came to the front of the crowd, Xiao Ming cleared his throat and said: "Brothers, you've worked hard, I'd like to represent Flying Tiger Fort in thanking everyone! Alright, no more nonsense, those who want to leave, come over and leave your name and address, take the money and go home!"

  Niu Sandun tensed up and carefully asked: "Master, what does this 'leaving an address' mean?"

  Xiao Ming smiled slyly and said loudly: "If anyone dares to go out and harm the common people again, I'll go visit his whole family!"

  "Niu San hastily said: 'Don't worry, don't worry, please rest assured!' He turned his head and shouted to the soldiers: 'Everyone heard clearly, those who want to leave come over and get their money!'"

  Xiao Ming saw someone still hesitating and smiled, asking Niu San: "Niu Lianchang, what about you? Are you going or staying?"

  Niu San said with some difficulty: "The master, the villain's family still has an old mother, and I want to go back and take care of my old mother before making plans, what do you think..."

  "Niu Lianchang, don't be too hard on yourself, filial piety comes first in everything! Alright, since there are still parents at home, I'll add five more big coins for each of them!" Xiao Ming said with a smile, and then grabbed a handful of coins and stuffed them into Niu San's pocket. "Go back and accompany the old folks to have a good New Year, do something proper and decent!"

  Niu San was overwhelmed with gratitude and bowed repeatedly: "Thank you, master!"

  More and more people came to take the money, and then left in twos and threes. There were still over a hundred people left standing on the playground without moving. These royalist soldiers were mostly made up of prisoners of war, defeated soldiers, starving civilians, and local rascals. Those who were lazy and gluttonous had long been sent to be reincarnated as devils, and most of those who remained were poor children with no home to return to.

  "So, you're planning on staying?" Xiao Ming's smile disappeared, and he shouted sternly.

  "Yes, we want to stay!" someone in the crowd replied softly.

  "I didn't hear anything!" Xiao Ming glared angrily.

  "Yes, yes!" This time the voice was louder.

  "Are you a bunch of weaklings? Want to stay behind and embroider flowers? Then it's better to get out of here early! Tell me, are you or aren't you going to stay?"

  "Yes!" This time finally shouted out with momentum.

  Xiao Ming smiled contentedly: "Good, this is what a man should be like! Come and get your money, change clothes later, rest for a few days, let's talk after the New Year!"

  In a sorrowful atmosphere, the New Year was hastily passed, and Xiao Ming and others began to reorganize their troops. The mountain stronghold now had less than 700 soldiers, plus the newly joined Imperial Cooperative Army, barely making up a total of 800 people. Xiao Ming ordered Ma Liu to lead the new recruits in training and then assigned them to various regiments.

  The weather turned warm, and the Flying Tiger Fort opened up the road to Black Wind Gorge. Ji Hongru went out to gather a large number of craftsmen, bringing in sand, stone, and wood from outside. The entire fort worked together to start building houses. Spring plowing had not yet begun, so there were plenty of idle people available. As for wages, Xiao Ming was a man who would stop at nothing, and he simply asked the puppet army commander for 100,000 kilograms of grain, which he used to settle accounts with millet.

  Many hands make light work. Before long, the village and barracks were renovated, and the stronghold took shape. Progress was rapid, and it would soon be completed.

  Xiao Ming did not dare to be careless, and sent out a reconnaissance company to closely observe the surrounding situation. Da Long and Ma Liu led their men in separate patrols nearby. The Japanese army seemed to have given up on digging trenches and building strongpoints, even withdrawing the garrison from the Liu family's large courtyard, leaving only one platoon of puppet troops to maintain order. However, intelligence gathered by Night Cat showed that the Japanese army was frequently mobilizing its troops, which made Xiao Ming and others suspicious and secretly strengthened their vigilance.

  Spring warmth, the Flying Tiger Fort finally moved back up and down, only to find that things are not as they were before, leaving everyone in a state of dismay. Xiao Ming secretly asked Mù Cūn to appraise the land in various places, and the result was that there was no major impact. Xiao Ming still told Mù Cūn not to reveal it, lest it cause unnecessary panic.

  With everything settled in the mountain stronghold, everyone let out a long sigh of relief. However, Xiao Ming's anger flared up again as he ordered each unit to send people to the surrounding Japanese military strongholds to demand food supplies.

  They claimed to be collecting grain, but in reality they were robbing. The supplies for the Japanese army's stronghold are now mostly collected from surrounding villages. The Flying Tiger warriors stood guard at the edge of the stronghold and intercepted vehicles transporting food, loading them onto their own carts and taking them away, ignoring the pleas of those who had brought the food. The Japanese did not react; they knew that more food would be delivered soon, so they didn't have to worry about starving themselves.

  The soldiers easily took back the carts that were used to transport food for the puppet army, and when Xiao Ming found out, he ordered them to return the carts. The soldiers were confused but followed the order. Unexpectedly, after the carts were returned, the Japanese troops at the outpost not only didn't get angry but also gave two cigarettes as a gesture of gratitude, which left everyone even more perplexed.

  Lin Xiuzhi worried that if things continued like this, the people's resentment would be too great and it wouldn't be good for Feihu Village. She advised Xiao Ming to hold back a bit, at least change his strategy. Xiao Ming was unmoved, and instead asked Lin Xiuzhi: "Old Lin, last time in that village, who did the villagers harm? When the Japanese came, didn't they kill every single one of them! Why don't they vent their grievances on the Japanese?"

  "Lao Xiao, you can't expect all the common people to have your level of awareness, they are just struggling to survive! Besides, the mountain stronghold doesn't lack this little bit of food, why make things even harder for them?" Lin Xiuling became agitated.

  "Isn't there a shortage of food?" Xiao Ming sneered, "The grain in the mountain stronghold was all earned with our brothers' lives! Do you know why the Japanese army can give us grain? It's because our brothers fought to the death and scared them off! We have the Military Affairs Department's orders, it's only natural that we collect grain in this area. But after we went there, they were all evasive and unwilling to cooperate! That's already a problem, but why did they become so willing when the Japanese came? Don't they know this is Chinese land, their ancestors are Chinese? If they have the guts, let them come to our Flying Tiger stronghold, I'll accompany them to the end!"

  "Lao Xiao, you said such good words, but when it comes to you, they're always accompanied by guns and sticks! Can't we just have a good talk with the common people and slowly change them?" Lin Xiuling naturally knew that this was a case of "sorrowing for their misfortune and getting angry at their refusal to argue", but she thought Xiao Ming had gone too far.

  "I don't have the patience for that! Either they silently endure until death, letting the children continue to suffer, or they rise up and resist, telling those outsiders that Chinese people are not easy to bully, even if it means dying, we must pass on this spirit!" Xiao Ming said calmly. Since the last war, Xiao Ming had become less impulsive, less angry, only persistently doing what he thought needed to be done.

  Lin Xiuzhi sighed, knowing that she couldn't persuade Xiao Ming. He was still worried, the Japanese were so indulgent towards the Flying Tiger Fort, they definitely weren't afraid, but he didn't know if they had a bigger conspiracy!

  Wang Jinlong didn't think so. After being with him for a long time, he was clear about Xiao Ming's character. Xiao Ming was just probing the Japanese army's bottom line and figuring out their intentions!

  In the battle of Jinan, Ma Liu's special agent team lost seven or eight people. Although they were replenished, the grinding time was too short and they didn't quite match up. As soon as he had time, Xiao Ming let him lead his men to conduct various tactical drills.

  The grass was long and the swallows were flying, Ma Liu led his men to go out of the city for covert training. Unbeknownst to them, they had already passed by Lu'an City and arrived at a checkpoint. The checkpoint had a platoon of puppet troops, checking people and vehicles coming and going. Ma Liu didn't think much of it and ordered his men: "Think for yourselves, if we were to attack them, how could we do it without firing a single shot, quietly and stealthily? I'll take a nap first."

  After a while, someone poked Ma Liu from beside: "Old Six, get up and take a look, these people don't seem quite right!"

  Ma Liu looked up and saw a group of puppet soldiers passing through the checkpoint. The leader said something to the squad leader, who nodded respectfully and carefully sent them away.

  Ma Liu felt that something was not quite right, and after looking for half a day, he finally caught on to the clues. These fake soldiers were not tall, but they were strong and sturdy, full of energy, and their walking posture was filled with the confidence of a soldier, completely unlike ordinary fake soldiers.

  "It's his mother's little devil!" Ma Liu suddenly realized, "Let's go find those two devils and ask them what's going on!"